Hunter's Moon
by Saro
Summary: discontinued An origonal dark fairy tale. Inuyasha, the tragic hero. Can Kagome save him, or will she make the same mistake as Kikyo?
1. Prologue

A/N: This is a dark fairy tale. Many of the elements for this story were adapted from Celtic and Welsh Folklore. This is not Disney people.  
  
Disclaimer: I do not own Inuyasha.  
  
Hunter's Moon  
  
Prologue  
  
A sallow, bloated Hunter's moon rode low over the naked autumn branches. The air was cold, and frost painted the fallen leaves. Inuyasha waited, every muscle tense. It was Samhain, and the Wild Hunt would ride tonight for the last time before winter banished the Sidhe back to their own lands.  
  
The blare of a horn cut through the silence as Arawn, Lord of the Hunt, called his hounds and vassals to him.  
  
The horn called to the dog in Inuyasha's blood, and the heavy golden collar around his neck drew him like a tug on a leash. He fought it, as he always fought it; and he lost, as he always lost. The blood lust grew in him, the killing haze clouded his thoughts so the man in him was locked away and only the beast remained.  
  
When the horn's second blast echoed through the forest, Inuyasha ran, becoming a blur of red and white in the cold darkness. His fogged mind screamed in protest, but the rest of him was beyond caring. He was powerful. He was quick. He was deadly. He was one of the last White Dogs, and the Wild Hunt was summoned.  
  
The Sidhe swept onto the moors in a silent tide. The Bright Folk rode on horses decked in silver and starlight, their armor gleaming in the moon's sickly orange glow. The UnSeelie appeared in shadows, blue skinned and deformed, their dark Queen a morbid spectacle wearing a crown of bird bones. The Small Folk gamboled about in merry revelry, gnomes and hobs and peskies armed with elf-shot. And the dogs. There were Black Dogs from the south, slavering monsters with red ears and eyes like embers. There were Gold Dogs, slim coursers with long slender legs and narrow jaws. There was one White Dog, a majestic creature the size of a warhorse, with long, silky fur and a blue crescent moon on his forehead. And there was Inuyasha. The other dogs made way for him as he entered their ranks, except the White, who bared his teeth in challenge. Inuyasha bared his own fangs at his half- brother, unwilling to roll over.  
  
A whip crack ended their quarrel. The Lord Arawn frowned at the brothers, and Inuyasha whimpered as the collar around his neck flared and pain laced his nerves. Sesshomaru did not escape either. The proud White Dog was forced to show his belly to his master. After a long moment, the Hunter's expression relaxed, and the punishment ended.  
  
The Lord watched as the Wild Hunt gathered. Inuyasha watched his master, waiting for the horn to sound a third time and start the Hunt. The part of him that hated the Hunter and the Wild Hunt, and the collar he wore had retreated to a small, wailing voice in the back of his head, which was easily ignored. He wanted to give chase now, and to taste blood. His instincts were louder than that tiny voice. He needed to kill. The rest of the pack was as anxious as him. The gathering Sidhe were no better.  
  
Lord Arawn smiled and lifted the horn to his thin lips. For a third time the horn's call sounded out.  
  
The hounds were the first to move, faster even than the faerie horses that followed them. The Gold Dogs ran as though their feet had wings. The Black Dogs trampled everything in their path. The White Dog moved like a ghost for all his mass, pale hair making streamers behind him. Inuyasha ran like a man, but as fast as the dogs, each stride devouring the ground while his sensitive nose searched for a scent. Any scent would do, so long as it belonged to something alive and foolish enough to be out while the Wild Hunt rode. The Hunt divided, splitting into groups behind the Dogs, waiting for them to flush out some game.  
  
Inuyasha heard baying far to his left, but he didn't bother with it. Whatever it was would be dead long before he could reach it. He would find his own kill. The Black Dogs had already fallen behind, and the Gold Dogs lacked the strength to bring down their own quarry. His brother was his only real rival tonight, once he found a trail.  
  
When he caught something on the wind, he howled. He smelled a human. His claws itched to rip it open. His mouth watered at the thought of fresh meat. That little part of his brain that hid from this protested. 'Do not,' it seemed to plead with him. 'I know that scent.' He couldn't deny the power of the horn, though, and he pushed that part of himself down ruthlessly. He had to hurry. If he did not, someone else would beat him to his prey.  
  
He sprinted toward the scent, hounds and riders loosing ground behind him as he rushed lightly over the moor, then back into the trees of the forest. Dodging around oak trunks and through undergrowth, he ran.  
  
He bounded over a fallen log and came upon his pray standing alone in a small clearing. She was a tall young woman, with long dark hair gathered into a tail at the nape of her neck. Her fair skin shone in the moonlight, and her dark eyes were fixed on him, horror in their black depths.  
  
Inuyasha growled, yet he did not move closer. He could hear the Hunt behind him, closing the distance he'd gained, but that voice was struggling again, begging with him, pleading. 'No,' it implored him. 'No, it's Kikyo. Kikyo.' That name gave him pause. It made the voice fight to rein in the blood lust that drove him. The effort made him shake. His muscles knotted, his claws flexed, his nostrils flared with her warm, living scent, but he stayed where he was, locked in his internal conflict. 'Kikyo,' the voice repeated, and he tried with all his might to hold onto that name. That name was all that stood between him and killing the pale, shocked girl before him.  
  
"Inu. . .yasha. . ." the girl whispered. "Inuyasha," louder, and she took a step in his direction.  
  
The Gold Dogs raced out of the brush, pink tongues lolling. They leapt for the woman, tearing her skirt, drawing blood on her arm.  
  
"No!" Inuyasha screamed, and attacked the Dogs. The first one died instantly on his claws. The others shied from him, tails between their legs, whimpering and cowering in submission. He screamed again wordlessly and swiped at the hounds. They darted away, knowing that they were no match for him.  
  
"Inuyasha," the woman said, and laid a tentative hand on his shoulder. He whirled to face her, and she cringed. "Inuyasha," she repeated. The name seemed to strengthen that little voice. His trembling eased, though he was still panting with the strain of controlling his instincts.  
  
The first of the riders came on him then, fair, pale haired Sidhe on blowing steeds. Inuyasha snarled at them, eyes traveling from one hard face to another. A few of them lowered spears, but none attacked. Even these proud, haughty Sidhe hesitated to kill one of the Hunter Lord's favored Dogs.  
  
Then the Lord himself manifested among the trees, his antlered silhouette shaping out of the night bound forest. At the sight of him, Inuyasha felt the weight of the collar he wore more acutely. He could feel the tug of his master pulling him to heel. He pulled away from it with all his strength, growling and showing his teeth. 'I am not just a dog, damn it,' his mind screamed, struggling to shape the part of him that was man out of the animal.  
  
Lord Arawn frowned, and the collar came to life.  
  
Inuyasha fell to his knees as agony like he hadn't known in decades filled him. Fire raced through he veins, as though his very blood were a poison. His heart hammered painfully in his chest, each beat bringing with it another torture. His body betrayed itself, muscles and sinew drawing taut and threatening to snap his bones between them. He tried to scream, but his lungs would not draw air. The edges of his vision turned red, then dissolved into black.  
  
The pain left as quickly as it came, leaving Inuyasha on his hands and knees bathed in sweat, with shameful tears running down his face. He panted weakly, willing his body not to collapse.  
  
"Inuyasha," the Hunter said, and again he felt the invisible leash pulling him. Too weak to fight again, he rose to his feet and staggered toward the Hunter. When he reached his master, he slumped against the horse's side, unable even to stand. One of Lord Arawn's hands snaked down to scratch Inuyasha's ear with disgusting familiarity. The man in him wanted to retch at that touch, but the treacherous dog was glad for this sign that his master might have forgiven him. Somewhere in the middle, Inuyasha felt himself falter.  
  
Without his protection, the young woman was defenseless. The Gold Dogs were the first to approach, tentatively stepping up to her, lips curled. A Black growled menacingly. Then a cheer went up among the Sidhe as they readied their weapons for the kill.  
  
The Hunter's whip cracked across the shoulders of a Gold Dog, and once again the woman was left alone in the clearing. Inuyasha closed his eyes and begged silently, 'No.' But the unspoken command was already there, and his senses once again were swimming with the sick thrill of blood lust. He opened his eyes to see Kikyo watching him. Her hurt and her fear were written plainly on her face and in her scent.  
  
Inuyasha swayed away from the body of his master's horse, and stood on legs that could barely hold him. In the corner of his mind that he held against the murk that twisted his brain, he prayed, 'Trust me.'  
  
Kikyo swallowed hard, her terrified gaze shifting from Inuyasha, to Lord Arawn, and back again. She licked her lips, and he heard her pulse become irregular. For a lingering moment, she stood still as a statue, then the moment shattered, and she ran.  
  
The instinct to give chase drowned everything else. Even without the Wild Hunt, he was a White Dog, and the chase was laid down in the blood and bones of his kind. When she ran, he ran after her. The woman tore through brambles, tripped and stumbled on. Inuyasha's need gave him strength, reviving his tired limbs.  
  
He leapt at her, and his claws sank into the flesh of her shoulder. His other hand ended her life before she could even cry out, ripping out her throat. He caught her body as it slumped back against him, her dead eyes gazing back at him eerily. Almost tenderly, Inuyasha leaned forward to lap the blood from her torn neck.  
  
*~*~*  
  
A/N: I warned you this would be a dark fairy tale. What did you think?  
  
This idea just came to me when I was trying to remember a Welsh story about the Wild Hunt (I never did remember the story and I can't remember where I read it in the first place), and my muse wouldn't let me sleep until I wrote it.  
  
I hate my muse.  
  
Anyway, I am still writing "Synthetic Emotions," and if there is no interest in this story, I will probably either stop writing it all together or save it for a rainy day. As I live in Oregon, there are a lot of rainy days. So review and tell me if you want to see more of this.  
  
Thanks for reading! 


	2. Chapter One

A/N: I wasn't sure if I was going to continue this story or not, but, my muse has struck again. Don't expect quick updates, "Synthetic Emotions" is still my first priority.  
  
Disclaimer: I don't own Inuyasha. I don't own the faeries, either.  
  
*~*~*  
  
A Brief Glossary:  
  
Sidhe: a general term for faeries, more or less. Pronounced, "Shee" as in Banshee (or Ban Sidhe). Youkai will be making cameos as Sidhe.  
  
Bright Folk: the Daoine Sidhe. I could write an essay trying to explain them, but I won't. For a ball-park estimate, picture Tolkien's elves with Sesshomaru's attitude.  
  
The UnSeelie: put simply, bad faeries. These are the Sidhe who are twisted in form and nature.  
  
Small Folk: the little people; pixies, gnomes, hobgoblins, leprechauns, etc. Basically your standard fairy tale fare, from Rumpelstiltskin to Tinker Bell.  
  
*~*~*  
  
Hunter's Moon  
  
Chapter One  
  
Rain beat down on red autumn leaves, made grey by the early twilight. Sunset was at least an hour off, but the sky was an ominous, bruised shade that threatened no reprieve from the pounding rain. The wind moaned and creaked in the branches, shaking and rattling the dead leaves. In the dim, indifferent light, the road was little more than scar through the undergrowth.  
  
Kagome could not repress a shudder. She wished she were home, warm indoors, sipping the broth her mother had been making when she left, instead of out here, cold and soaked to the skin. She wished she had stayed with Sango and her family, instead of insisting that she walk home with a storm pressing in.  
  
She wished she were anywhere but on the road through Inuyasha's Forest, exposed to the weather, with night coming on quickly. In the day, with the sun shining brightly, and the forest painted a riot of red and gold, it had been easy to forget the stories of this place, and tales of what befell those who crossed the woods' inhabitants. Most particularly, the stories about the faerie boy from whom the forest took its name. She had grown up listening to tales about Inuyasha, and the Wild Hunt that rode in the late days of fall.  
  
When she was young, she and the other children of the village had dared each other to race to the weathered old stump that marked the boundary of the forest, and more often than not, they had all run home screaming when whoever had been dared claimed to have felt a chill, or seen a flash of red out of the corner of their eyes. That had changed seven years ago, when Kikyo's body had been found after the night of Samhain. Her parents had told her that the older girl had probably been gored by a wild boar, but Kagome had not believed it. Grandfather had told her that the Wild Hunt had taken Kikyo.  
  
At least it was raining tonight. The girl was fairly certain she remembered Grandfather telling her that the Wild Hunt only ran on clear nights, and couldn't cross running water.  
  
With the last of the daylight fading, Kagome couldn't help but watch the thick underbrush on either side of the road suspiciously. Who knew what might be hiding just out of sight on a night like this?  
  
When the first flash of lightning abruptly lit the sky, Kagome nearly screamed. The low rumble of thunder that followed covered the sounds she couldn't repress.  
  
Belatedly, she realized it was only the storm and laughed at how silly she was being. Lightning was perfectly normal this time of year. There was nothing unnatural or magical about it. In the fall, there was lightning. There always had been. It was nothing to get hysterical about.  
  
Calming herself through force of will, she continued on. The weather was at least as dangerous as the Sidhe. She shouldn't be out on a night like this. She could catch cold, or worse, lung-fever.  
  
A moment later, she caught another flash out of the corner of her eye, and waited for the thunder to follow. And waited. And heard nothing. Her throat constricted slightly, and the skin across her shoulders prickled. What was that? 'I shouldn't look,' she thought, remembering what she could of the stories. 'I shouldn't look, and I shouldn't run. It isn't the Wild Hunt, it isn't the Wild Hunt. Oh gods, let it not be the Wild Hunt. . .'  
  
Another flash, again silent, and this time she could make out a disturbing, greenish quality to the light. Only now it was more of a glow than a flash, and it didn't seem to fade away entirely, but lingered just at the edge of her vision. 'Don't look. . .' She could feel something watching her, and a cold sweat started on her already damp skin.  
  
Then it was in front of her, a shapeless wisp of blue green light, and another of a cooler, darker blue. The greenish glow was still behind her and to the left, and there was something vaguely yellowish with it, all these faint splotches of color standing out sharply against the evening grey.  
  
Kagome stopped walking and looked behind her. There were more of them. Ghost Lanterns. She was shaking now, trembling as she considered what surrounded her. Evil spirits that led travelers astray, and drained the life from living bodies. A chill crept up the girl's spine. She was surrounded. They were before her, and behind, and to the left. . .  
  
She whirled right, fearing what she would find, but there was nothing, only empty forest. Darkness hung between the trees, and brambles and nettles all outlined only indistinctly by the failing light.  
  
"Kagome. . ." A high, childish voice seemed to whisper in her ear, followed by an impish giggle. "Kagome! Kagome. . ."  
  
With those voices laughing at her, she did the only thing her panic-blanked mind could understand. She ran.  
  
The voices laughed louder, gaining strength. The lights darted wildly in every direction but one, so she ran. Her skirt caught on thorn bushes, and vines tangled around her ankles. Kagome heard them behind her, and saw them always flitting just out of sight. They were chanting her name, over and over again, calling her in those soft voices. And they were laughing. The sound of their laughter turned to a cold, tight knot of dread in the pit of her stomach. She ran faster. A branch whipped painfully across her cheek, but she ignored it.  
  
One of the lights, the unearthly blue one, floated beside her, and she thought she could just make out a small figure in the glow.  
  
Her skirt caught again, and this time she heard it rip as she tore it roughly free of a wild rosevine. Kagome was not used to running, and her lungs already burned with the exertion, but she forced herself to keep going. She had to get away from the Ghost Lanterns.  
  
"Kagome. . ."  
  
"Kagome. . ."  
  
"Kagome!"  
  
The girl covered her ears in an attempt to block them out. 'Don't listen to them,' she told herself sternly. Her heart was pounding like a drum, and every breath hurt more than the last.  
  
There was another light dancing with the blue one, this one was greener than any of the others she had seen, and she could clearly see the form of a dark haired young girl limned in that ghastly luminescence. Its merry laughter was clear through the patter of the rain, the rasping of Kagome's breath and the pounding of her heart.  
  
'Run,' she urged her tired legs, fighting for another burst of speed, but she couldn't make them go. The wet leaves slid under her feet and she toppled, skidding downhill on her backside.  
  
"No!" Kagome shouted in denial as the green Ghost Lantern came to hover above her, fixing her with eyes that shown with a maniacal glee.  
  
Then a blur of red came between her and the spirit. Long white hair, shining as though the moon had somehow broke through the clouds just to reflect of it. And four gashes in the air, which hit the Ghost Lantern. The little spirit dissolved into nothing. Suddenly, the other lights were gone as well.  
  
Kagome blinked, trying to figure out what she'd seen. It had happened too quickly, leaving her with nothing but a jumble of impressions.  
  
There was a youth standing over her, wearing a red cloak. His long, silvery white hair spilled down his back unbound, and his appricot-gold eyes were fixed on her. She could see him clearly, despite the dark. He didn't glow as the Ghost Lanterns had, but it for some reason, he wasn't obscured by the twilight or the rain.  
  
His face was beautiful, but not human. It was more as though someone had given a dog the shape of a man. There were a pair was triangular white dog- ears on top of his head.  
  
The girl recognized him from the stories. Inuyasha.  
  
She'd had a better chance with the Ghost Lanterns.  
  
*~*~*  
  
A/N: Hope you enjoyed this chapter. I apologize if my writing occassionally seems awkwark. I am experimenting with what I hope is a somewhat folklore-ish style, so I'm not writing as I normally would, and thus, it feels a little clumsy to me. Sorry.  
  
Until next time. 


	3. Chapter Two

A/N: Sorry to make you wait so long for an update. I'll try to do better with the next one.  
  
Disclaimer: I don't own Inuyasha. I don't own the faeries either; they belong to their respective cultural traditions.  
  
*~*~*  
  
Brief Glossary:  
  
Fae: can mean faeries themselves, but I use it to refer to faerie's energy.  
  
*~*~*  
  
Hunter's Moon  
  
Chapter Two  
  
Inuyasha regarded the girl before him impassively. She was perhaps fifteen or so, he guessed, but he had never been that good at judging the age of humans. Her black hair was slicked against her chilled, damp skin. Her eyes were wide with fear.  
  
*At least she has some sense. . .* a familiar, bitter voice whispered in his heart, but he pushed it away.  
  
"What are you doing here?" he demanded.  
  
"I--There was--I was. . ." Her voice caught in her throat, and she drew a deep, shuddering breath. A tear slid down her already wet cheek.  
  
Why the hell was she crying? The sound made him flatten his ears.  
  
"Hey," Inuyasha barked at the girl. "The Ghost Lantern is gone. You shouldn't run from those, you know. They can't do anything to you if you don't acknowledge them, but if you run away, or chase them, or watch them too much, they get more powerful. It was really stupid to run from them. You're lucky I don't like their kind in my forest. . ." He let that thought trail off meaningfully.  
  
"You saved me?" the girl asked, climbing slowly to her feet. She was a mess, with her clothing torn, her skin glistening dimly with rainwater, dirt and leaves clinging to her from her fall. The look she gave him was disbelieving.  
  
"Did you think I was going to eat you?" he scoffed.  
  
The girl's silence was answer enough.  
  
"Keh, I don't eat humans," he said, turning away from her.  
  
*Since when. . .* that little voice piped acerbically. *I seem to recall a time. . .* Inuyasha ignored it again. Listening only encouraged her.  
  
"Wait!" the girl called out before he left, surprising him.  
  
"What?"  
  
"I'm lost," she told him, catching his arm in her hands. The dog looked down at that contact, and she pulled away as though burned, but the fear scent that had radiated from her was already fading. Inuyasha blinked, there was no way she could be that trusting. She could not possibly be asking him to lead her out of his forest.  
  
The girl's gaze was tentative, yet hopeful. She really did want him to help her.  
  
"Well," she said after a long moment's pause. "Are you going to show me the way or not?"  
  
Inuyasha snorted, then sniffed the air. He could still smell the Ghost Lanterns, lingering at the edges of his territory, and other, fouler things that had been drawn by the girl's fear and her mad dash. His power would keep them at bay, but she would be helpless if he left her on her own. Her dark eyes were pleading, reminding him of other eyes, and a pang of guilt tightened in his throat.  
  
"Fine," he said at last, shrugging off her hand and tearing away from her look. "Let's go."  
  
"Thank you," she said fervently. "I don't know what I'd do without your help."  
  
"Keh," the faerie dog muttered. "I just don't want you wandering around my forest. Who knows what trouble you'd invite?"  
  
The girl's gaze dropped to the wet ground. Water dripped sadly from the tip of her nose. She was shivering. Her scent changed, no longer afraid, but rather an elusive, despairing thing. He did not like this smell. Nor did he like the way she shook.  
  
Inuyasha sighed, recalling how frail human flesh was. He shrugged out of his cloak and dropped it around her. The girl lifted her face in surprise.  
  
*You just can't help yourself, can you?* the little voice whispered, almost aloud.  
  
"Are you coming?" he asked gruffly, fighting to ignore the presence growing over his shoulder. She could wait. He would deal with her after he'd got rid of this girl.  
  
The girl nodded, still wide eyed as she looked down at his red cloak hanging too-long from her shoulders. Her fingers trailed over the fabric hesitantly, as though it were an animal that might bite her. Then she pulled it tight against the rain.  
  
She followed him quietly for a time, scanning the woods around them warily. Inuyasha wondered briefly if she felt the spirits that hid just out of sight. Some humans were sensitive to such things, though they normally dismissed the feelings, not knowing what to make of them. She might be such a one. He dismissed the thought quickly, though. If she were able to feel the fae around her, then she would be more frightened of him.  
  
The collar he wore pulsed with the deep, furious magic of the Hunter Lord.  
  
Night grew thicker around them, the shadows between the trees growing heavier, until even Inuyasha's eyes could not pierce them entirely. Things huddled in the shadows, UnSeelie creatures mostly, some of them so delicate that any light at all would banish them. Inuyasha knew such creatures, and didn't fear them. For everything else that passed, he was one of the last White Dogs.  
  
"Inuyasha," the girl said, her voice breaking into his thoughts. A frisson of recognition traveled the length of his spine when she said his name.  
  
"What?"  
  
"I'm Kagome."  
  
Inuyasha snorted. "You shouldn't tell your name to things like me. It's dangerous."  
  
"But I know yours," the girl explained. "It seems unfair not to tell you mine."  
  
"Kagome," Inuyasha said, feeling out the girl's name. Naming was an important part of faerie magic. Inuyasha had no intention of using this human's name against her, but he felt uncomfortable knowing it. His will was not always his own. It proved that the girl trusted him far more than she ought to.  
  
The girl smiled when he said her name. Her rich brown eyes lightened, as did her smell. "Good. Now we're introduced."  
  
Soon they came to the brook that marked the edge of Inuyasha's forest. A bridge spanned the narrow waterway. On the other side, the lights of a village could be seen, puddles of brightness through the rain. His nose found smoke, iron and livestock; all the scents of humanity, lifting the small hairs on the back of his neck uncomfortably. He felt the presence of several tame dogs, pathetic creatures who had given up their nobility for easy meals and scratched ears.  
  
The girl looked up when he stopped, looking up at the houses and barns in surprise. "How did we get here so quickly?"  
  
"You think I don't know the fastest trails through my own forest?" Inuyasha asked her girl archly. "Go on, your home is there."  
  
Kagome nodded, opening her mouth to speak, but before the words were out of her mouth, Inuyasha turned away from her, searching the trees behind them for the creature he felt lurking there. "Go," he told the girl harshly, and heard her footsteps cross the bridge.  
  
"What do you want?" he shouted harshly at the shadows. Instead of leaving, it moved closer. The ephemeral form of a woman molded itself out of the darkness, her eyes heavy with sadness and betrayal. Stains covered the front of her clothing, trails of red leading to the perpetually bleeding wound on her neck.  
  
*Would you send me away, Inuyasha?* the woman's sorrowful voice echoed in his thoughts. Her pale lips did not move as she spoke. The rain did not touch her, nor did the wind move her jet-black hair.  
  
"I cannot, even if I would," Inuyasha said wearily. "Leave the girl alone though."  
  
*Why? Are you afraid I'll warn her?*  
  
"How many times must I apologize for want I did, Kikyo?" he asked the ghost, unable to stop the guilt that rose up at the sight of her still, pale face. "How much will it take for you to rest in peace?"  
  
*You know the answer to that question, Inuyasha* the dead woman responded.  
  
Inuyasha drooped under her unwavering stare. What she asked was impossible. He touched the collar around his throat, a habit acquired from years of wearing the blasted thing against his skin. His life was not his own to give.  
  
"I'm sorry," he said to the darkness, offering another worthless repentance. Kikyo shook her head, fading away.  
  
*That's not enough. . .* she said, and was gone.  
  
*~*~*  
  
A/N: Until next time, review. 


	4. Chapter Three

A/N: Not the longest chapter in the world, but I find myself proud of it nonetheless. After months of letting this one run wild, I have finally imposed some manner of order on it once again. Warning, I seem to have been waxing poetic when I wrote this.  
  
Thanks for your patience.  
  
Disclaimer: I do not own Inuyasha.  
  
Hunter's Moon  
  
Chapter Three  
  
Kagome cradled Inuyasha's red cloak to her chest as she lay in the dark, waiting for sleep to come for her. A faint, steady heat radiated from the fabric. She had thought, at first, that it had been from the faerie boy's body, but as time passed, Kagome realized the cloak itself produced that gentle, comforting warmth. She couldn't say just why, but ever since she had discovered the gift's properties, she didn't want to let it go. It was as though a part of her believed that if she dropped it, the cloth would disintegrate, leaving behind only dead leaves and forest earth.  
  
Silly as it was, and childish beside, she could not quite convince herself to put it down. Sleeping with such bedclothes, Kagome dreamt.  
  
In her dream, she waited in the dark. She could see nothing but a flat, featureless nightscape. A few stars peeked out from behind the windblown clouds, but they didn't give enough light to reveal her surroundings. The moon was hidden.  
  
For some reason, she prayed that it would remain so. She feared that moon, even though why escaped her.  
  
*I know you're there,* said a voice that had no part of the dream.  
  
The girl became aware of herself, huddled among the roots of a tree. She could feel the dirt between her toes, and the rough bark against the palms of her hands. She could smell something on the air that she could not identify. It tugged at her nose, familiar yet strange.  
  
A sound startled her, causing her to shrink closer to the tree's hoary trunk. A sudden panic rose up in her throat to choke her. The noise was far off, but clear in the night air. It was the sound of animals moving in the undergrowth, huffing and snorting like hounds after a trail. Tremors started in her muscles as the sound drew closer. She could hear the heavy pad of many feet, and the rattle of bodies as they pushed through the dead autumn branches.  
  
The girl swallowed hard, wishing she could close her eyes. Instead she looked once again at the sky. An indistinct glow from a bank of clouds marked the moon's place in the sky, but it remained safely veiled from sight. She knew, though she didn't know how she knew. . . she knew that so long as the moon remained out of sight, she was safe.  
  
*This is not your place.* That voice again, cutting across everything else for a brief instant, then gone.  
  
The wind picked up. It pulled at her hair. It chilled her skin. It drove the clouds before it. She felt as though her soul fell into the pit of her stomach at the sight of the moon's light wavering throw the clouds. That smell tickled her nose again, stronger, bitter enough to sting the sensitive lining of her nostrils, but still unidentifiable.  
  
The creatures were closer now. She hoped it was only some trick of the night air that made it seem as though they were on all sides of her. She hoped it was just the forest and the moor confusing her senses. Somehow, hoping didn't quiet the fear she struggled to tamp down. Through a gap in the clouds, she caught sight of the moon's pock scarred face. A slim spear of light broke through, illuminating the silhouette of the naked branches overhead.  
  
*What are you doing here, darling?* The words were soothing, and authoritative.  
  
All at once, the clouds broke away and light flooded the forest. 'Things' of every shape and description sprang into view: a rider in silver armor astride a red-eyed horse; a squat, gnarled brown hag with hair like waterweeds falling around her like a cape; a little man with merry pink cheeks; a tall woman with black eyes and pointed ears. There were too many of them to identify.  
  
*No. Wait!*  
  
A horn blared in the distance--  
  
Kagome jolted awaked, her heartbeat deafening in her ears, breath rasping in her throat. A cold sweat broke on her back and between her breasts. Blinking away the last fragments of the dream, the girl fought to slow her frantic pulse.  
  
The house was quiet. Her family was laid out on their pallets in front of the banked fire, Souta curled up in a tangle of limbs with their fat old tom cat, Buyo. Their breathing came in the slow, constant rhythm of sleep, and it relaxed her jangled nerves to hear it. Kagome fell back to her bed, slowly regaining her composure.  
  
Not real. It hadn't been real. Even when she was in it, she had known she was dreaming. Yet, even now she couldn't entirely shake the feeling, as though she had been sleeping awake.  
  
Even after she'd calmed, Kagome's rattled nerves wouldn't let her go back to sleep, nor would the thin predawn light that seeped in through the cracks in the shutters and door. Her eyes refused to stay closed, and what was worse, her mind refused to settle. Not when she still held Inuyasha's cloak in her hands, warm and reassuring. Was it the source of her bizarre dream?  
  
It was said, faerie gifts came with a price.  
  
If so, then this was one Kagome had no intention of paying any longer than necessary. It wasn't that she was not grateful by any means, but if dreams like that plagued her nights, she would have to take to sleeping days.  
  
Anyway, Inuyasha probably had more need of his cloak than she. What call did she have for faerie clothes?  
  
She made her decision. Today she would return Inuyasha's cloak to him. She would go to the old stump, as a start. The logical part of her mind told her that perhaps she ought to try to bridge instead, since that was where he left her the night before, but growing up, the stump had always been the border of Inuyasha's forest. Careful not to wake the others, the girl stood up and walked outside.  
  
The ground was sodden from the previous night's rain, and fog clung to the ground in rolling blankets. The sky was dove blue-grey to the east, and still dropping fringes of rain here and there.  
  
Kagome shifted her hold on Inuyasha's cloak nervously. She didn't want to keep it, but she still found herself reluctant to put it down. Which left only one option, really.  
  
*~*~*  
  
A/N: Until next time! 


End file.
